I was just reading an alert about a stream-side invasive known as "giant hogweed" and it sounds like lovely stuff. The state of Maine calls it "Queen Anne's Lace on steroids"
Apparent it produces a toxic sap and contact with leaves or stems "can cause severe skin and eye irritation, painful blistering, permanent scarring and blindness."
It's probably a good idea to be able to ID and avoid Giant Hogweed - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

__________________
"I was born to fish" Lee Wulff
"There's more B.S. in fly fishing then there is in a Kansas feedlot." Lefty Kreh
" It ain't over till it's over." Yogi Berra
"Your not old,you've simply acquired a patina." Swirlchaser

Coming from a country where the Giant Hogweed is common, I can tell you all of that info is true. The sap in particular is very corrosive and will leave permanent scars on your skin. They are very impressive plants and can grow very quickly and produce thousands of seeds. I have seen then 10 feet tall in shady moist places but they can grow on open river banks too.
Keep pets and kids well away.

"Roundup," lots and lots of "Roundup." If that won't kill it, zip will. Well, "Crossbow" may be a good second opinion? From the discription above, a Propane bottle and a 'flame thrower' attachment would not be a good option.

Assuming you don't have a haz-mat suit/breathing apparatus over your bod.

Thanks! I live in a state that is comfirmed to have this nasty stuff...now I have another plant to avoid when I'm running from the swarms of deerflies flailing my arms around in the woods! Those of you who dont' know what deerflies are consider yourselves lucky...I'd trade them for black flies, sand-flies, or misquotoes any day.

No comparison how much Deer Fly bites hurt. Found one thing don't wear white . Especially white socks. They zero in on white socks like it's a whitetails butt and it can be painful. Bot that plant looks pretty imposing as well!

__________________
"I was born to fish" Lee Wulff
"There's more B.S. in fly fishing then there is in a Kansas feedlot." Lefty Kreh
" It ain't over till it's over." Yogi Berra
"Your not old,you've simply acquired a patina." Swirlchaser

Hogweed! I worked an incident, as the Incident Safety Officer, a few years ago, in Western NY, where Hogweed is more prevelant, and I had documented the danger in my Safety Message in the Incident Action Plan. The incident had to do with yet ANOTHER invasive, the Emerald Ash Borer, a bug that eats into Ash trees. Ash is a major wood product in NYS, as it's key to both the furniture industry and the baseball bat industry. One of the field workers, a Fed etymologist (brought in from out-of-state), evidently knew his bugs better than he did his leaves..... Not only did he get some of the sap on his hands and then rub around his eyes, he also apparently used one of the big leaves as a piece of "Nature's TP".

He was in considerable pain, required hospitalization, and I felt badly for him. That said, the Incident Commander, the Ops Chief, and I had a hard time holding down the hysteria while completing the Accident/Exposure Report.

Thankfully, I had documented the Hogweed hazard in the IAP, and had briefed on it at the morning Operational Briefing, so MY butt was covered!